Trigger lock fitting on a trigger guard



Dec. 4, 1962 E. E. ROGERS ETAL TRIGGER LOCK FITTING ON A TRIGGER GUARD Filed Feb. 24, 1960 INVENTORS EUGENE E. ROGERS EDWARD R. MASKULKA I I I I ATTO 3,066,433 Patented Dec. 4, 1962 flice 3,666,433 TRIGGER LOCK FITTING ON A TRIGGER GUARD Eugene E. Rogers and Edward R. Maskulka, Phoenix, Ariz., assignors of twenty percent to Carl S. Spaw, Phoenix, Ariz.

Filed Feb. 24, 1960, Ser. No. 10,740 2 Claims. (Cl. 42-70) Our invention relates in general to gun locks. -It relates more in particular to a locking mechanism adapted to engage around the trigger guard and maintain such contact with the trigger that the latter is held substantially immobile.

Firearms have for many years been recognized as dangerous and many regulations and structures have been made to abate such danger. Among the latter'are so-called safety devices commonly provided on both shoulder guns and hand gunsv Among the regulations are requirements, for example, that a gun must be unloaded when carried in a motor vehicle, that it must be stored in an unloaded condition and the like. Specific regulations have also been made'with respect to keeping children out of contact with guns under conditions where they can be dangerous. Notwithstanding the various types of safety devices provided, regulations of various government agencies and attempted good practices of owners of firearms, accidents resulting in maiming and death continue to occur.

The principal object of our invention is to obviate the danger of firearms as they exist today.

Another object is to provide improved gun locking.

Still another object is to positively anchor the trigger of a hand or shoulder gun to prevent its being moved accidently or through the action of an inexperienced person.

Other specific objects and features of our invention will be made apparent from the following detailed descriptions taken with accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary elevational view showing the bolt action type of shoulder gun with the lock of our invention applied thereto;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged elavational view;

FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 33 of FIG. 2 showing the manner in which the device of our invention engages the trigger guard and trigger;

FIG. 4 is an isometric view looking toward the inside of one of the housing members comprising the device of our invention;

FIG. 5 is an isometric view showing the inner face of the complementary housing member or housing cap;

FIGS. 6 and 7 are views similar to FIGS. 4 and 5 respectively but showing modified structures;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view showing a modified connection between the housing cover plate, and

P16. 9 is an isometric view showing the special locking screw and special key for attaching same.

In the embodiment of the invention, shown in FIGS. 1 through 5 inclusive, we provide a housing member 10 which includes a side plate 11 and side flange 12. The housing member 10 is of a general ear shape but is open at the top along a substantially straight line shaped to be held firmly again-st the bottom portion of a gun 13 when it is in trigger locking position. An inward projection 14 forms a plate 11 shaped on one side to engage a portion of trigger guard 16 and at the opposite side to engage against a trigger 17 (see FIG. 3). The contiguous portion of the flange 12 is also shaped to engage the trigger guard and preferably the remaining portion of the trigger guard is engaged by the remaining portion of the flange 12 except insofar as adjustment and the like may be required as will appear hereinbelow. While normally the projection 14 is adequate to lock the trigger, we suitably also provide a second smaller projection 18 to engage a front portion of the trigger, i.e. it engages the trigger on the opposite side of the projection 14.

A cover plate 19 also has a projection 21 similar to but comprising a mirror image shape as contrasted with the projection 14 so that together the projections 14 and 21 engage both the trigger guard and trigger when the cover plate 19 is secured' in position as appears clear from FIG. 3.

To lock the cover plate in position we provide an annular recess 22 with a hole 23 at its center to receive the shank of a special fastening screw 24. A boss 26 on the inside face of the cover plate 19 has a threaded hole 27 into which the shank of the bolt attaches by threading action. The head of a special screw 24 is shaped so that a special tool is required to engage it, particularly after it has been fully seated within the annular recess 22. A suitable special tool 28 for actuating the screw 24 is shown in FIG. 9.

'-In another form of the invention a housing 30 has a side member 31 and a flange 32 made to fit generally around a trigger guard as in the previously described embodiment. A projection 33 from plate 31 has a slot 34 to cause it to engage on oposite sides of the trigger. One or more spacers 36 are suitably secured as by welding to the inside of flange 32 to adjust the housing to trigger guards having various dimensions, in a manner and for a purpose which will be more full explained hereinbelow. This form of invention gives a suitable annular recessed projection 37 which may be similar to the corresponding projection in the previously described form and it cooperates with a threaded apertured boss 38 on an otherwise flat closure plate 39.

The particular manner in which the parts are shaped will depend somewhat on the manner of their manufacture. Almost any metal or other adequately strong structural material can be employed in fabricating the parts, and various methods of fabrication such as casting, stamping, forming, machining, welding and the like may be used. Since various guns have diiferent sizes and style of trigger guards and triggers, it is preferable that :a method of manufacture be employed which is relatively inexpensive and does not require expensive tooling for each required shape. The exact material used is, of course, dictated to some extent by the method of manufacture determined upon. One suitable method of forming the housing portion is to produce a casting slightly larger than required to cover several models. This casting can be of pot metal, plastic or other relatively inexpensive material and machined to fit a particular gun following a template which has been previously prepared for the purpose. The housing members may also be produced by a stamping operation, or optionally the plate portion 11 (FIG. 4) could be made separate from the flange 12 and the latter welded to the plate which had previously been finished to the shape and size desired.

One advantage of the form of invention shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 is that the plate 31 can be perfectly flat and the projection 33 shaped and positioned to fit a particular gun and then welded to the plate. By making the member 30 slightly larger than required, a number of inserts, as required, can be welded to the flange 32 so that the trigger guard is engaged snugly. By engaging both the trigger guard and the trigger in this manner the housing portion is firmly locked in position and it becomes absolutely impossible to move the trigger.

To avoid tampering, the cover plate preferably fits inside the housing portion 10 or 30 as the case may be. To still further seal the housing at the point of contact of the cover plate an overlap may be provided as shown in the modification comprising FIG. 8 in which the flange 112 is shaped to form a shoulder against which a projecting ledge of the cover plate 119 engages.

One of the desirable features of our invention is that the heading of screw 24 engages firmly within its recess. For this reason it may be desirable to utilize a separate hard and strong material for this recess as shown particularly in FIG. 3. Those skilled in the art will understand that usual practices in providing special strengthening members, separable projections and shapes to facilitate production and save cost and other practices common to machine shop practice can be utilized without departing from the scope of our invention as defined by the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A gun lock of the character described adapted for use with various types of guns, said gun lock comprising a generally cup shaped housing member shaped generally to fit around a trigger guard, open at its top and on one side, said housing having an annular exterior recess with a center aperture, an inwardly facing projection spaced from the said annular recess and having a slot positioned to cause a trigger to engage in the said slot, at least one edge spacer adapted to engage exteriorly of a trigger guard, said spacer dimensioned to engage against the gun lock of a particular gun exteriorly thereof, a cover plate shaped to close said housing member, said cover plate having a threaded apertured boss aligned with said recess on the housing member, and a screw extending through said center aperture in the annular exterior recess and into the said threaded aperture in said boss for securing the plate to the housing member, said screw having a head closely engaging side walls of the annular recess in the housing member and said head having exterior slots dimensioned and positioned to require a special tool for engagement of the head and removal of the screw by turning.

2. A gun lock as defined in claim 1 wherein said slotted projection is a separate piece attached to the housing member, as by welding, whereby the housing member may be dimensioned to engage over the trigger guard of a large number of guns and adjusted to each type of gun by dimensioning and positioning of said spacers and slotted projections.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,569,553 Lewis et a1. Jan. 12, 1926 1,686,482 Windle Oct. 2, 1928 2,505,227 Charters Apr. 25, 1950 2,598,924 Lind June 3, 1952 2,664,658 Bjorklund Jan. 5, 1954 2,742,726 Feller Apr. 24, 1956 2,859,551 Buchanan Nov. 11, 1958 2,893,152 Peluso July 7, 1959 

